Protective Armour
by TheFoxCannotSummit
Summary: Orie Hoshiyo can't help but adore the group she meets on her first day attending Ouran Academy. Of course, our newest female heroin is rather clumsy herself, landing her in what we may call the "Haruhi Situation". In this scenario of a ridiculously over-used plot, who knows, maybe someone's her love, too? Mori/OC
1. Starting Today, You're Stuck with Them

**Hello :) This is my first OHSHC fic, and I'm really excited about it! If there are any mistakes concerning honorifics, please alert me, as I'm still trying to get the hang of it. Thanks for reading! - McKenna**

* * *

"Orie Hoshiyo?"

I turned on my heel briskly, straightening my posture as quickly as possible by nature. It became a habit, I suppose, whenever someone called me by my full name. Tilting my chin up, I met the person who inquired my attention's eyes.

The older gentleman with light brown hair and soft eyes smiled warmly at me, holding out his hand. "I'm the chairman of this academy, Suoh Yuzuru. Thank you for meeting me here in my office so early today."

I grasped the man's hand firmly; besides, my mother always said that you could tell a lot about the way someone went about their handshake. "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

Chairman Suoh gestured for me to take a seat as he did as well, behind an expensive looking desk cluttered with picture frames. The pictures I couldn't see, but I imagined they were of his family. I tried to imagine what the man's kids would look like, if they'd have any features similar to him. I wondered, as well, if any attended the school themselves.

"Now, while you were to be granted a scholarship due to your achievements in the Martial Arts, your father has paid in full the tuition. However, the Kendo and Karate clubs are still fully interested in your membership with them. I've talked to the captains, both students here, third-years like yourself, and they've agreed to keep you on the roster if you're still interested." He explained, lacing his fingers together and settling them on top of the desk. I smiled, grateful for that.

"I'd love to join up with the Kendo club, sir. It'd be an honor." I replied hastily, hardly able to keep the smile off my face.

Dojo's felt like home to me. Although I can say I've never lived in Japan until now, the Japanese culture always comforted me. It brought me close to my father. He and my mother were both Kendo champions, thus how they met and eventually, fell in love. My mother is beautiful Italian woman, who loved nothing more than martial arts and yoga. Whenever I asked for her reasoning behind this passion, she always answered the same way: "It's always a learning experience."

At first, of course, I'd thought that a bit strange. But, as I began practicing and picking up Kendo myself at her dojo that she owned and operated, I felt what she must have felt. I always learned something new, whether it was about myself or Kendo or even Japan. Mother always told wonderful stories about her visits to my father in Japan, and how she fell in love with the scenery there. I could really only imagine, up until now, that is.

My parents divorced fairly early in my life. They lived two different lives. My mother resided in Florence, Italy, where she owned a large and wonderful dojo. She loved her life of teaching and expanding her students' and her own world. My father, a Japanese man, was heir to the Hoshiyo family business- art dealing. They broke apart, feeling it for the better. There didn't seem to ever be any bitterness towards the subject. Mother was an independent lady- that was for sure.

Recently, though, my dad had contacted her, inquiring about my status. He did this every so often, wanting to keep up with me. While I admired his efforts, I always wondered why he never bothered to try and meet me. I tried to not let it bother me, especially not now. Apparently, as he had explained to my mother, my achievements in Kendo had reached word to Ouran Academy in Tokyo, Japan. When it was connected that I was the daughter of Takagi Hoshiyo, father was asked if I ever considered studying in Japan and becoming closer to the martial arts. And so, my mother passed this along to me.

And…here I am! Ouran Academy. Japan. So far from Florence, Italy. But, it was a change of scenery, and if I'm being honest here, Ouran was the kind of school to go to if I wanted to excel in my future. While I admired martial arts and wanted to stick with it for as long as physically possible, my heart did truly lie with languages. I want to be a translator. They always came naturally to me as I learned Japanese on top of Italian and English at school.

However, I couldn't lie, Otousan's company held great interest for me, as well. I held great passion for the arts, and couldn't be any happier that I could potentially be the heiress to a company in which I could expand and teach all kinds of people the value of their own art.

Anyway, that's why I decided to go ahead with the transfer to Ouran. While it was hard leaving my mother after so many years of being just her and me, I couldn't help but feeling like the change was a going to be a beneficial one to many of us.

Chairman Suoh presented my schedule to me, as well as the school uniform that was "especially tailored to my measurements." While the dress was hideous, I found no way of getting around it, and thanked the man as I backed out of his office, ghastly tent thing in tow. I quickly found a bathroom to change in, and just chuckled at my ridiculous reflection. The dress was just…horrid. The material was pale yellow with puffy shoulders and white hemming, all with a white color on top that clung to my neck uncomfortably. The white stockings and brown loafers didn't complete the look much at all, either.

What a disaster…

Although it was ridiculous, I shrugged it off, deciding to use my free time before classes started for the day to find the dojos. The school, I might add, was large, spanning over elementary, middle, and high school. A few courtyards were littered about, and a large, elegant clock tower sat in the back behind what I presumed was a high school building. The dojos were located near there, and the walk wasn't too bad. _Guess I could have it worse, _I thought lazily.

Peeking into the cracked doors of the dojos, I noticed that their practices were in the mornings. My eyes widened, _I sure hope this is the karate club…I'm definitely not a morning person._

I opened the door wider to study the movements made by those inside. Many students, many more than I had ever seen a mom's dojo, were following instruction from a tall, dark guy. He towered over my height- five feet, one and a half inches- at what could be over six feet. Wild, dark hair stuck out all over the place, and while he seemed rather looming and frightening, when he stopped practice, most of the students seemed…content.

After admiring from afar for a few moments, the instructor suddenly turned towards me, as if by instinct he knew I was watching. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I hadn't realized how...handsome he was. Although he _was _dark and scary, his face was soft and eyes deep and observant. He cocked his head to the side and gestured for me to step into the dojo. I obliged quickly, closing the door behind me, watching as tall, dark, and scary walked up to me. My eyes widened comically as I noticed that his pace was so…wide. I must seem like I scuttle everywhere to get places compare to his giant leaps. I gulped as he neared me. He _did _tower me, it wasn't an over exaggeration in the least.

"I-I'm sorry for disrupting your practice. I'm a new student here and I'm supposed to be meeting with the Kendo club captain. Do you know where I could find him or her?" I said, smiling gracelessly as I backed myself up into the door as much as I could. I almost didn't expect the guy to speak back to me.

"Yeah. I'm the captain." He held out his large hand to me. "Morinozuka Takashi."

I relaxed at the sound of his calming, bass voice. Reaching out, I shook his large hand firmly, admiring how slim it made my hands look in return. "Hoshiyo Orie. Pleasure to meet you, Morinozuka-San." I swear the ends of his lips slightly turned up. He didn't seem too scary once you got a good look at him.

"You may call me Mori."

I couldn't help but giggle. "Well, you can call me Orie. Anyway, Chairman Suoh told me that you were willing to allow me to still join the Kendo club?" My new acquaintance only nodded in response. "Wonderful! When are practices?"

"Every morning, six to seven." He answered briefly. _Yikes. Early. _I nodded in understanding anyway.

However, I could see that the conversation wasn't moving along anymore. "Well, I'll leave you then. I'll see you tomorrow morning." I turned to leave, reaching out to open the door, when it was flung open suddenly by an unseen force. I pushed myself back so I wouldn't be hit, causing me to ram into Mori. All I heard was a cute little giggle when I reopened my eyes after shutting them tightly in shock.

"Sorry, Takashi!" I heard a cute, timid voice say as Mori stood up and reached out a hand to assist me. "Oh! And Takashi's friend! I'm sorry!"

I looked down to see possibly the most adorable boy ever. His wild blond hair and big brown eyes complimented his round, boyish face. He was short, and I briefly wondered how the hell an elementary school kid got into the dojos. I dusted off the ridiculous and atrocious uniform and just smiled, waving my hand.

"It's nothing. I'm sorry."

The boy smiled, a faint blush rising to his pale cheeks. "My name is Haninozuka Mitsukuni, but you can call me Honey! I'm a third-year, like Takashi!"

My jaw dropped, by two accounts. A: you mean to tell me that this little boy's seventeen? And B: he did say Haninozuka, right? "Y-You're Mitsukuni Haninozuka? My goodness! It's an honor to meet you! I admire your skills very much!" I bowed slowly, in awe that I was standing before someone I'd only heard about. Mother always mentioned the Haninozuka family to be the best name in martial arts.

Mitsukuni chuckled, clutching tightly a stuffed, pink rabbit that I hadn't noticed he had been holding closely. "Thanks! Do you like martial arts?"

I nodded happily. "Yes, I've been studying Kendo all my life!"

"That's so cool! Takashi, did you know that? Is she on the Kendo team?" Mitsukuni shouted to Mori, slamming him with question after question. He turned back to me. "What's your name?"

"Hoshiyo Orie." I replied, smiling politely at the adorable young man. I couldn't help but wonder what Mori's relationship with a Haninozuka was. Did he say…?

Mm, that's right. Mori's surname _is _Morinozuka, after all. The families were tied together. They must be cousins. Mitsukuni waved a hand in front of my face, laughing when I blushed and brought my attention back to him. "Are you a third year, too?" I nodded to him, grinning. "Takashi, we should invite her to the Host Club this afternoon!" He shouted, as if it were the grandest of plans ever. I raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Mori, who didn't seem to have any flooding emotions over the ordeal.

"Yeah." Mori replied. I suppose that's good?

"Yeah!" Honey replied a bit more enthusiastically. "Orie-Chan, you can come with us after school to the Host Club, and we can eat cake together!"

_Ya know- I never would have pegged a Haninozuka as a…cake eater. _

"Well, I'd love to, Honey, thank you."

_What the hell is a Host Club? _I thought as Honey celebrated. He went on to ask me about my schedule, in which he informed me that all of ours, meaning Mori's too, I assumed, were similar. The only difference was that I opted out of taking English for Italian, instead, however we were all in the same first couple of hours, and so, I was to be escorted by the Haninozuka/Morinozuka combo deal.

Classes were hard for me here, which became more and more noticeable as I became more and more stressed throughout the day. I was previously warned that Ouran's academics would be considerably more work compared to what I was used to dealing with in Italy, which I could have figured as much. And, while I was good with speaking, reading, and writing Japanese, it was still enough to slow me down during lectures.

Honey and Mori must have taken notice of my stress, as Honey turned to me while we were in a math class and smiled warmly as Mori slid a piece of paper on my desk. I raised my eyebrow at him; he didn't seem like the note passing type. He lightly grunted and gestured to the paper.

It detailed the lecture to a fine T, giving me the highlights of all that I've missed up to the point in order to catch me up. I sighed heavily in relief, mouthed a quick thanks to him, and stuffed the paper into the appropriate binder.

Lunch came quickly, thankfully. I assumed Honey and Mori would be alright with me following them to the lunch room, which they gladly did. I opted out of not eating, too anxious from the large lunch room and overbearing ways of the school itself to even begin to think of stomaching their fancy hot and fresh lunches. More people joined us at the table, and as they did, Honey was rushed to introduce me to them.

Three first-years were introduced to me, a freakishly girly looking boy and a set of twins who screamed mischievous. The latter were identical, save for the parting of their hair. Once they spoke, though, it was easier to hypothesize who was who by the tone in which they spoke. Alas, it was still difficult.

"I'm Hikaru,"

"And I'm Kaoru." The other finished. They glared at me deviously, as if devising some plan together telepathically. I laughed nervously and turned to the other first-year.

"I'm Fujioka Haruhi." He said calmly, holding out his hand. As I gripped it in a handshake, I couldn't help but take notes on the softness and size of his hand. _Nearly the same as my own. And probably not much taller than me…_

"It's great to meet you all. I'm Hoshiyo Orie. I just moved here from Italy to live with my dad." I replied, smiling gratefully for the flood of new friends, even if the twins were a bit monstrously creepy.

As lunch wore on, I was also introduced to Suoh Tamaki, who was in fact the son of the Chairman, and Ootori Kyoya, who was scary in his own fashion. As soon as they all sat down, the Hitachiin twins turned to Kyoya and asked about me. He only took a few seconds to glance over at me before replying with what felt like my life story.

"Hoshiyo Orie. Seventeen years old, half Italian, half Japanese on her father's side. Originally was given a scholarship for martial arts to Ouran, but was dropped. Signed for the Kendo club. Good student with a higher than average grade point average, and is more than likely the next heiress to her father's company." He closed the black leather bound book he was writing in and smiled at me as if we were best friends. "It's quite a pleasure, Hoshiyo-Senpai."

I couldn't help but allow my eye to twitch. "H-Have we met before, Kyoya-Chan?" He simply laughed, and shook his head.

"I simply make it my business to know everyone." _Right. Note to self: stay away from him. _"And, another thing, her blood type is AB, just for future reference."

"Future reference?" I asked incredulously, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by all of the boys' staring and chuckling at jokes I had no part in.

"We've had run ins with type AB." Haruhi explained to me as she shuddered and glanced at Honey. _Well, I suppose I'll have to hang around them more in order to understand. _

I did find myself having a good time with all of them, even if some of them were scary and overwhelming. They each explained to me a couple of things about their Host Club, which Tamaki-Chan started with Kyoya-Chan's help. They all invited me, saying they'd love to see me there and get to know me better. I felt comfortable in a group of goof balls like them. Their family dynamic appealed to me, I suppose.

And, family dynamic it was. Tamaki referred to Haruhi as his 'daughter', only furthering my question of his actual gender; equally, he referred to all the others as his 'homo side cast'.

Although, he did surprise me when he turned to me and his violet-blue eyes softened. He snapped out of it suddenly and he grasped me in a bone-crushing hug twirling me around in the lunch room, shouting: "Orie-Senpai can be my niece!"

Once he stopped spinning me and released me, I stumbled around, feeling desperately for the table, and held onto something else. I glanced down, noticing the periwinkle color of the boy's Ouran Academy uniform. My eyes travelled to see that Mori's dark eyes were watching me with concern. I laughed it off, patting his shoulder and sitting down, mumbling a sorry.

"It's okay." He replied. Even though I'd already heard him speak, his deep voice always shocked me.

Lunch eventually ended, and I parted ways with Mori and Honey to go to a different class. They promised to meet me in music room number three, where Host Club was apparently held. I was instructed to come as early as possible, so I may beat the rush of the other students. As friendly as they all were, I wondered why it was they were so enamored with me. I had come to Ouran this morning having to tell myself to breath in an out; coaching myself to be able to handle any off-handed comments towards my racial background.

Surprisingly, I was well received, and mostly everyone wanted to know me, or greet me. Everyone was friendly, wanted to know why it was I moved from Italy, or wanted to know what it was like in Italy. I answered them truthfully- my parents are divorced and neither remarried, so my dad offered to pay for me to attend Ouran, although I was already granted a scholarship.

Apparently some kids recognized my surname, Hoshiyo, and wanted to talk business. Kyoya happened to be one of these people, and his glasses shined with devious lighting as he mentioned it. I turned him down, though, as I did everyone else who asked about it. I hadn't the slightest clue what the business was like just yet.

So, the day ended, and I happily made my way to the third music room, and opened the door. Blinding lights shone through the crack, and…rose petals? I couldn't help but laugh at the antics. I could see why girls fell for it all, it was…distracting.

"Orie-Chan!" I heard Honey shout as I pushed the door open some more. Taking my first step in, I felt as if I was being welcomed into a whole new family. I smiled as Honey hugged me around my torso, snuggling his head into my hip.

"Hi, Honey." I greeted him as he released me and went for my hand, towing me along further into the music room. "Hello, everyone." They all waved, as Kyoya stepped forth and began explaining how the Host Club worked.

"Our costumers chose a man who they prefer and are entertained by them through appointments. We have the boy Lolita, the wild type, the cool type, twincest, the natural type, or the princely type." As he explained, each boy raised their hand at the mention of their type, but it was fairly easy to pick up on.

"So…you all entertain girls for three hours every day after school?"

"Basically." Haruhi confirmed while rolling her eyes at Tamaki's hurt expression.

"And sometimes…" One of the Hitachiin twins began as he walked over to me and threw an arm around my shoulders.

"…we even get to go on field trips!" The other answered, mirroring his brother's movements.

"Uh huh." _This is…odd. But, oh well. I need friends, and although it's strange, I like them all. _"Well, may I stay today, Kyoya-Chan?"

Kyoya looked up at me, peering through his glasses. "Of course, Orie-Senpai. Choose your type."

My type…right. _What is my type, anyway? _

"Maybe you all could do an evaluation for me. I'm not really sure of my type."

The twins jumped at the opportunity. They removed their arms from me and each but a finger to their chin in serious thought. "You definitely aren't the princely type, sorry, Boss." One began.

"Sorry, Kyoya-Senpai, but she looks like she's going to pass out every time she sees you, and not in the good way. Cool type out." The other, maybe Kaoru, went on.

"Hm, my loss." Kyoya replied as he walked to a table and sat in front of an open laptop. _Yeah, real convincing there. _

"Let's see. While she may be fond of Honey, she'd never go for it."

Honey turned to me with tears welled up in his eyes. "Orie-Chan doesn't like me!" He wailed, and I glared daggers at the twins.

"Of course not, Honey, I adore you!" I replied as he ran up and hugged me once again. I felt like a mother. _Mio Dio. _

"While we are the best act here, I doubt Orie-Senpai would fall for it." A twin said, crossing themselves off the list.

"Which really only leaves Haruhi and Mori-Senpai." They evaluated together. I sighed, feeling Honey's grip vanish as he skipped back to Mori's side.

"If it makes a difference, Haruhi's got appointments all afternoon. Mori-Senpai's practically free." Kyoya said from the laptop, not bothering to look up at any of us.

"I'm guessing it does make a difference." Haruhi muttered. "Well, sorry, Orie-Senpai, but we can talk later, right?"

I smiled fondly at Haruhi. "Of course!"

Regardless of the evaluation, Honey and Mori sat at the same table, and so I once again got the Haninozuka/Morinozuka value pack. I watched intently as Honey consumed two pieces of cake in under three minutes, my eyes widening with every bite he took. Mori sat next to me, his usual quiet façade that I had come to recognize as normal still intact. Eventually, more girls came and Honey and Mori were made to entertain them. It was funny watching girls fawn over Honey's cuteness while realizing that Honey _knew _he was cute, and he knew how to play it up. Meanwhile, what Kyoya dubbed as "Mori Fans", girls were asking Mori questions that he'd answer with basic one or two words. However, these girls still thought the world of him. I couldn't help but laugh at it all, it was so absurd.

_I think I'm really going to love these guys. _

"Orie-Chan, we're out of tea!" Honey shouted suddenly, pulling me out of a reverie, spaced-out moment. I glanced down at the tea kettle and chuckled.

"I'll go get some more, okay?"

"Are you sure? You're still our guest!" He protested, but I waved him off as I stood and grabbed the tray of tea and began to walk away. Mori stood before me, ready to grab the tray from me when I smiled sweetly and shook my head.

"You have guests to entertain, Mori. I don't have a problem getting it for you guys." I told him, gently patting his shoulder and guiding him back down to his seat next to a raging fangirl. A flicker of a smile touched his face before he nodded and allowed me to go.

I began walking away, when I slid, dumping the contents of the tray onto myself. I flung backwards, landing on my butt and catching only two tea cups, while the rest of the set smashed to the floor of the music room. All the chatter ceased around me as I rubbed my back with my free hand and cradled the two saved cups. Groaning as someone pulled me up and clasped onto my shoulders, I could immediately see what was happening as Kyoya came to assess the damages done to the tea set. He opened his mouth to speak, when someone beat him to it.

"You're lucky I'm here to deliver some more tea sets! Good thing that wasn't a rare one. Although, they are pretty pricy." A boy said, holding out a box to Haruhi, who took it in his arms and began looking back and forth between the boy and another girl. I assumed something else was happening, but as of right now, everyone else but Tamaki and Haruhi were paying attention to my stupid accident.

I turned to see Mori holding onto my shoulders to steady me, partial worry and partial concern etched on his normally expressionless face. I huffed out a sigh as Kyoya snatched the two saved cups out of my hands and smirked at me evilly. _Oh boy. He's going to hate me. He's going to make sure I can never see any of them again. Way to loose friends this early on, Orie…_

"Orie-Senpai, this set cost about 1,000,000 yen." _Didn't that boy say that I was lucky because it wasn't rare? What do the rare ones cost?!_

"I see." I replied icily, unsure of where this was going.

"As I know you'd be able to pay off the debt with actual money, we could do a transaction that way. However, I like to keep things interesting. Test theories, if you will."

"Uh…huh."

"How would you like to pay off your debt in another fashion?" He asked, the glare of his glasses seemingly foreshadowing a grim outlook on the situation.

"Oooh! Orie-Chan could hang out with us all the time then, right, Takashi?" Honey celebrated as I gaped at Kyoya, at a loss for words.

"I…well, why not?" I replied, shrugging my shoulders. Haruhi walked up beside me, the box of the tea paraphernalia still in her hands.

"There are a million reasons not to." She muttered under her breath to me, to which I just smiled and rolled my eyes. _I don't think she realizes that she's one of the melodramatics, here. _

"I'd love to be taken up into the club."

Kyoya smiled. "Wonderful. You can start tomorrow."


	2. The Job of the Schemers

"So, you're telling me that Suzushima-Chan and Kasugazaki-Chan are engaged to be married?" I asked Haruhi as we danced together in music room number three, practicing for a big party the host club was throwing later that same week. Haruhi nodded at my statement, sighing as she stepped on my foot again. I bit my lip, partially from the pain, and partially because I couldn't help but feel bad for the boy being forced to learn ballroom dancing. I didn't know it well either, so I offered to practice with him in order for us both to be prepared, as Tamaki wanted me to join the festivities of the ball as well.

"Yeah. And now Tamaki-Senpai and the twins have something planned. They wrote a fake love letter to him from me, and they'll dress me up as a girl and send me to meet him. There, I suppose, I'll get him to admit his love for Kasugazaki and Tamaki will take it from there." He explained the plan to me as he twirled me around, albeit, both of us doing so rather lazily.

"I see. Well, best of luck with your shenanigans, then, Haru-Chan. I best get going, got a lot of stuff I have to buy for the party. Kyoya already gave me his shopping list." I told her as we both let go of each other, and I showed her the long, rolled up list I had stuck in the pocket of a pair of jeans I brought with me to change into. "Thanks for the dance, I'll see you later!"

"Bye!" He said as I grabbed my things and headed out. As I walked through the maze of a school, I couldn't help but admire the architecture. Although everything seemed to be pink, the paintings and turrets and beautifully detailed accents were just gorgeous to me. Maybe I would do well with an art dealing company.

I ended up calling Miyogi-Sama, my dad's personal driver, and asking him if he'd be willing to drive me around for a while. I loved all of my dad's staff; they were like a whole other family. The head of the maids was an elderly woman named Natsuko-Sama, and she was just like a grandmother. Of course, at first, I figured they'd all be cold and distant because maybe my father treated them like I figured any millionaire business man would. Yet, they all had kind things to say and all had wonderful stories to tell about my father. Miyogi-Sama in particular had a great story, as he and my dad were best friends since they both went to Ouran Academy.

As soon as Miyogi-Sama came around, I showed him my grocery list, and we both sat for a moment, willing ourselves to be lazy before we had to go to a million and one shops for Kyoya. However, we got everything done in a couple hours, and I had bags upon bags of food, decorations, as well as other miscellaneous things.

"Are you some errand boy for this club, Orie?"

I laughed, nodding my head. "Something of that nature. I don't really mind, though."

"Oh? Aren't you afraid they're just using you?"

I considered this for a moment. But, then I remembered Tamaki, and the way he always called me his niece, and Honey always offering me some of his cake; or how Kyoya purposely got around a money payment. I shook my head to Miyogi this time. "They did it because they wanted me around more, I just know it."

In the next couple of frustrating days spent with the wacky Host Club, we prepared for the ball on Friday. Tamaki and the twins schemed with an unwilling Haruhi, Kyoya budgeted, Honey ate cake, and Mori and I watched the events unfold from afar. Friday night came soon, and Kyoya informed me that there was a dress I could wear in the back room of the music room if I had nothing else to wear, which I thanked him for, as I really didn't.

I stopped into the music room to change an hour before the ball was to begin in Ouran's largest hall. The gown in which Kyoya spoke of was a gorgeous forest green color, and had just enough netting underneath to make it a bit poofy. It was strapless, and had black flats placed next to it. I thanked Kyoya silently, knowing that with heels I would have inadvertently killed myself tonight. I quickly changed, leaving my clothes in the changing room, and began my journey to the hall.

Tamaki insisted that as family I should be standing up with all the other hosts on the staircase, to which Kyoya only shrugged. I was placed just above Mori, and as I fidgeted nervously, Tamaki announced the beginning of the ball. I, along with all the other girls, watched in amazement as the hall was lit up with beautiful chandeliers, and the orchestra began playing. My eyes couldn't help but scan everything- there was so much to look at. _These boys definitely know how to throw a party…_

Kyoya, with a charming smile and outstretched arms, stole the attention of the crowd quickly. "As always, ladies, the Host Club members are here for your entertainment, so we invite you to dance until your heart's content. Based on her dancing skills, one lucky young lady will be chosen as tonight's queen. The queen's reward will be a passionate kiss on the cheek from our king." Kyoya finished up as Tamaki took over, wishing the girls good luck. I rolled my eyes, but was still flabbergasted by everything. _I've never been to anything so classy and fancy before…_

I caught myself staring at Mori and Honey as the latter was placed on the taller boy's shoulders. While Honey's suit was white, Mori wore a navy blue tuxedo, and I began observing the detail of everyone else's clothing items as well. That is, until Tamaki flipped himself over the railing above us and landed before Kyoya and Haruhi. Something about fancy tuna.

The festivities commenced, and I watched from a pillar I was leaning on soundly. All of the Host Club members were dancing with the guests, and they switched partners periodically, making sure everyone got a turn. _Well, at least they're fair. _I watched as Kasugazaki-Chan chatted with Haruhi, and admired all of the boys from afar. One of them kept standing out in particular, and I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why.

It was true that his untamed and unruly black hair and tanned skin went well with the navy blue tux he wore. His dancing skills were surprisingly up to date and good, and every girl that danced with him fell in hopeless love with the silent Host. I chuckled at myself. _The last thing you need, Orie, is to like someone off-limits. _Closing my eyes, I settled with fantasizing about dancing with him, instead of actually doing so.

I reopened my eyes as I felt the quick breeze of people passing my by on my face, and just caught a glimpse of Mori and Honey dragging Haruhi with them to go get her ready. Their planned was commenced, and Tamaki strutted up to me as I laughed at Haruhi's echoing pleas to be put down as they disappeared.

"They'll be in the changing room, let's go." He said, holding out his arm for me to take. He escorted me to the room, but I could tell that he was excited to see Haruhi. _Either he's gay, or Haruhi's definitely a girl. I'll go with the latter. _

Tamaki opened the doors to the room, shouting at the Host Club for the rudeness of leaving the party, when he saw Haruhi with a wig on and a dress. My jaw dropped open as well, and it was settled. Definitely a girl. All the guys watched with pleased looks on their faces as Tamaki tried to hold in his cries of joy, and Haruhi walked towards us awkwardly in her pink heels.

"That dress is almost as bad as my uniform." I told them, smirking and crossing my arms as the Hitachiin brothers glowered at me. "But, you do look nice, Haruhi. Even for a boy." I went on, dropping a wink. She rolled her eyes and nodded, understanding that I knew what was up. Even if all those boys were dense, I felt as though Haruhi and I could get along on a girl to girl level.

Haruhi left to go meet Suzushami-Chan in the classroom, and all the Host members dispersed to go back to entertaining their party guests. Honey clasped his hand around mine and dragged me out to the dance floor, twirling me around and around for a grand total of five minutes. He laughed loudly once we stopped, and twirled me in someone else's direction. I landed with one of the twins, and I assumed him to be Kaoru.

We danced for a few moments before I was twirled once again into someone else's arms, this being the other twin. The same event happened, although, this time I was caught in larger, stronger arms. My eyes widened and I looked down to hide a growing blush as Mori moved me in his arms so I would be facing him. He must have noticed my peculiar shade of fire truck red, because he let me go and bowed before holding out his hand respectfully.

"May I have this dance?" He asked, the corners of his lips slightly turned up. I nodded quickly and placed my hand in his, and was suddenly whisked away into the dance. I laughed as I tried to keep up; he was a much better dancer than I was.

He and I danced the longest, and it was occasionally filled with phases of making awkward eye contact, or awkwardly looking anywhere but each other. He had gorgeous eyes, really. As we made our way around the dance floor, I caught glimpses of Kyoya writing furiously in his little black book of doom, and I was curious when he glanced our way and offered a sick smile. I trembled nervously in Mori's arms, trying to rid my head of the mental picture of that insanely evil smile.

"Do you want to stop?" Mori asked, marking the second time he talked to me tonight. I smiled at him and nodded.

"Thank you for the lovely dance, Mori." I replied, giving his large hand a simple squeeze. Kyoya began ushering the guests out onto the patios outside, where huge floodlights were centered on a couple. After Mori located Honey, he looked down at me and asked with his eyes if I'd like to go outside. I simply nodded back to him, and we started forth.

It was announced that Kanako was the queen of the ball, but that her kiss was to be given by Haruhi, who was back to being dressed as boy now, rather than Tamaki. As she started to walk forward to give Kanako that kiss, Tamaki flew forward, trying to stop Haruhi, when really, he pushed them together. Haruhi's lips pressed to Kanako's suddenly, and everyone gasped. Mori and I slowly glanced at each other with alarmed expressions. The night ended on a good note as everyone walked out, talking hurriedly about all the great fun they had. Even Haruhi had fun, which I laughed at.

When all the guests were gone and it was just those of the elite Host Club, I thanked Kyoya for the stunning dress. He smiled warmly, "It was nothing, feel free to keep it." I thanked him, then proceeded to begin to walk outside so that I could call Miyogi. Honey stopped me, throwing his arms around me.

"Orie-Chan, you can ride with Takashi and me!" He shouted happily, his large brown eyes being much too irresistible.

I ruffled his hair and smiled back. "Oh, alright, if it's not too much trouble." Honey cheered as Mori and I followed him outside. A black limousine waited for them, their driver standing outside an opened door.

"We're dropping off Orie-Chan at her house, okay?" Honey told him, and after I gave him an address to go to, I slid into the car, bunched in between the two boys. Honey was glancing back and forth between Mori and me, his legs kicking and bouncing. "Did you guys enjoy dancing together?"

Mori's eyes flickered from me to Mitsukuni. "Yeah." He answered, slowly nodding his head.

"Y-yeah. It was lots of fun, Honey."

Honey just smiled back at us both, and no one spoke for the rest of the ride there. They dropped me off, Mori sliding out of the car and offering me his help. I got out and thanked him for the dance and the ride, and he simply gave me that squeeze of the hand back. "You looked lovely tonight, Orie." He said, and then slid back into the limousine. I waved them goodbye, went inside, and immediately threw myself in bed, deciding I'd take care of everything else tomorrow morning.

The next week of school came all too quickly, and the Host Club was up to their usual shenanigans. Today was one of their themed days, where we were dressed to the nines in waiter outfits, while Haruhi, Honey, and Mori were dressed in traditional wear. I wore a traditional outfit as well as I catered to the Host's tables, bringing out tea and snacks periodically, sometimes staying to chat with the guests. Most had gotten used to seeing me around the club now; finally deciding that jealousy wasn't worth it, as I was just a simple waitress like member, not quite posing a threat.

The courtyard we were in was littered with blossom trees, and created quite a tranquil setting for the afternoon's events. I sighed as I brought out more tea to the Hitachiin table, shaking my head at Kyoya's sales of the picture books I caught him working on just a couple days ago. Two guests jumped at the idea, quickly buying up two sets.

"I've got to wonder…" One twin started.

"When did he have time to take pictures of us?" The other finished, both shrugging their shoulders. I laughed, picking up my tray and walking back to the table I had set up with supplies to keep the Hosting tables replenished with snacks. My mouth watered at the sight of angel cake, my absolute favorite. I was saving it for Honey, though, knowing that he just _had _to taste it.

I placed it onto the tray as well as another pot of tea and began making my way to the mats that Mori, Honey, Haruhi, and two guests sat on. As I quietly walked up, no one sensed my presence, save for, most likely, Mori. Everyone was watching as Honey stirred the tea furiously, not letting up until Mori finally said something to him. I cringed.

"Mitsukuni." Mori addressed him, his deep voice rumbling as he leaned forward. "You over did it." The three girls at the end looked surprised, but the two guests compensated for it, as they assured Honey that he did a fine job.

I laughed, placing a pot of tea down in front of them, as well as some dessert plates and forks, finally finishing it off with the actual dessert. Honey's eyes widened as he saw it, and he licked his lips, instinctively reaching for the fork. "Now, Honey." I said sweetly, getting his attention.

"Yes, Orie-Chan?"

"This is my favorite kind of cake, and I want everyone to get a piece, okay?" Honey bobbed his head up and down as I handed Mori the knife to cut the cake. He nodded at me as I pushed it towards him and smiled, standing back up to leave.

"Where are you going, Orie-Chan? Takashi will cut you a slice, too! It's your favorite cake, after all!" Honey offered, grinning when I sat down next to Mori. He handed me a plate with a larger piece on it than even Honey's, and I chuckled at him.

"Thank you, Mori. And thank you, too, Honey." I replied to them as I began eating my piece of cake. _Ah, man. I should eat cake more often. _I looked down at my stomach, which was flat, if I'm being honest, but still always felt huge after I ate almost anything. _Maybe not. _I looked back up to notice Mori staring at me, and as soon as I made eye contact with him, he dropped his eyes down to his own small slice of cake. We all ate in silence, except for Honey, who made sure that everyone knew he enjoyed the cake a lot.

While the guests left and I began to clean up, I heard Tamaki begin to shout at Haruhi about revealing that she's a girl. However, the pesky twins stopped him in the middle of his rant, reminding him of the physical examinations we had coming up the day after tomorrow. I rolled my eyes as Tamaki repeated the words brokenly. Haruhi didn't seem too upset about everyone finding out that she was a girl the whole time, but I felt my heart break at the notion. She was part of the family, too.

Other than the schemes of the Host Club, my days started with extreme Kendo club practicing. I enjoyed Kendo a lot, for it was a perfect distraction. While relieving myself of frustration through physical exercise, I also could refocus all of my energy to this one thing. It felt nice, instead of feeling scatter-brained like most days.

Mori and I often sparred, although he was much more powerful than I. He always gave me technique tips, and helped me improve my form. Most days Honey watched, and once Kendo was over, Honey took about a half hour before classes began to show me some karate moves to add to my repertoire. Both boys were always helpful when it came to martial arts.

And flattering, too. There weren't many girls in Kendo club, but everyone was seemingly supportive of my strengths in the form. All of them acknowledged my talent for it, and again, it was like another family.

So, the next day consisted of Kendo club and sparring with Mori and Honey, to classes, which had gotten easier for me thanks to the two boys, and Host Club, where we thought up inventive ways to conceal Haruhi's actual gender. While Tamaki and the twins argued with Haruhi over the matter, Mori and I sat on one of the couches, sharing history notes to make sure we had the full lecture down.

"Tamaki," I called out rather suddenly, interrupting the argument between 'main character' and 'homosexual supporting cast'.

"Yes, niece?" He replied, looking over the twin's shoulders at me.

I didn't bother looking up as I wrote down a fact on my timeline of Japanese history. "You know that if Haruhi's gender gets out, she won't be in the Host Club anymore, right? And you won't get to see her during the day at all."

Tamaki's face paled and the twins laughed. "I bet Haruhi had a lot of boys falling for her."

Kyoya opened his book up, adding: "According to my investigative reports, a boy would proclaim his undying love for her almost every month."

I shook my head and laughed as Mori copied down something I wrote on my timeline. He pointed at a word, his tan hand suddenly blocking my view of the paper. I looked up at him, blinking, then looked back down at what he was pointing at. "It says 'their military'. Sorry it's so sloppy." I muttered, looking down in order to hide a blush.

He patted my head, and stood up to join the conversation once Haruhi poked her head into the room. I joined them, sliding in my normal place in between Mori and Honey, and listened as Haruhi laughed about their plan.

"The subject is not motivated!" Kaoru, I think, whispered to Tamaki. "How can we motivate her?"

All were silent until Mori looked at Haruhi and stated: "Fancy tuna." I smiled devilishly as her eyes widened at the mention of the food. She finally cracked and agreed after the twins and Honey made some off-handed comments.

The next day were physical examinations, and it was interesting, to say the least.

The day started out with the twins and Haruhi coming in the exam. Honey and Mori, dressed as doctors, stood near me. When Haruhi spotted us, I merely shrugged, not entirely sure what the plan entailed today. I had dozed off during that meeting.

Kyoya quickly strode up to Haruhi, explaining simply that Mori and Honey were for back up. "They're just here to set the mood. Disguises make our missions feel like real espionage." At this, Haruhi raised her eyebrows and sighed. As Haruhi was led down to her respective changing room, a doctor ran into Kyoya, and by the look of it, Kyoya was suspicious of him. I decided I might as well have some fun, seeing as though my own examination wouldn't be for a while. I waved goodbye to Honey and Mori as I followed the man that ran into Kyoya as he left the examinations and began running down the halls. I made sure to keep my distance from him, but I curiously kept him in my eye sight at all times.

He wasn't a doctor- that much was for sure. As we stalked down another hallway, he quickly grabbed the shoulder of a girl, hurriedly asking her something that was drowned out by her screams. He quickly began running faster down another hall, and without wasting time, I followed him, not caring anymore if he knew I was there. I didn't know what he wanted, or if he was trying to attack the girl, but maybe I could stop him before doing something serious.

As he turned a corner, I followed him, but stopped, because he was gone. _What room would he have gone in? _As I began frantically reading the room signs, my name was shouted out from the other end of the hall, and the gang of boys headed towards me.

"Are you alright?" Tamaki asked me, gripping my shoulders. I ripped myself out of his grip, a bit worried by their expressions.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's going,"

I was interrupted when the boys threw open the door to the Special Boys room, and I followed as they flung a changing room curtain out of the way. Tamaki threw himself at the man I had been following, who was holding his hand over Haruhi's mouth. The man crashed into the wall, and Tamaki planted his feet solidly back onto the ground, anger etched across his face.

"One: Good looks that attract the public eye." The twins said together, and I couldn't help but face palm at their over dramatics. I stood back, watching from the curtain.

"Two: More wealth than you can imagine." Kyoya added on, stepping out from the shadows. _The Shadow King. _

"Three," Came Mori's deep voice, "Chivalry that will never be able to overlook,"

"The hideous wickedness of this world." Honey finished the statement. As Tamaki dropped his shirt on Haruhi's head, he shouted proudly that these traits made up the Ouran High School Host Club, and I again pounded my head against my hand.

"We're here, watch out!" They all shouted together, and the man yelped out in fright. He began telling us his entire life story, about how his wife and daughter left him because of the little income he was making as a doctor in his own clinic. While I felt bad for him, I didn't understand how his daughter could possibly be going to this school if he had little money himself.

Kyoya voiced what I had been thinking. "Doctor Yabu, I think you may have the wrong place. Are you looking for Ouran Public High School?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"I figured that might be the case. This is Ouran Academy, a private institution. Your daughter doesn't go to school here."

Eventually, Tamaki had Kyoya compile a map of the public schools in the area, and we sent him on his way. "Are you sure about this?" A twin asked.

"After all, even if he does find his daughter, there's no guarantee that she'll want to speak to him." The other replied, bobbing his head up and down.

Tamaki's eyes widened. "Well then, that's something he'll have to find out for himself."

I lazily leaned on the window frame, watching as a kite drifted in the wind, rising higher and higher. Haruhi spoke up, "I'm sorry you guys, but, could you please leave." Everyone turned to look at her while I watched the kite with amusement.

I turned back to the group when Tamaki lunged at Haruhi, his eyes practically in the shape of hearts. "You're so cute!" He shouted, taking her up in a big hug and twirling her around.

"Looks like Tamaki-Senpai's the real pervert!" The twins shouted as Haruhi shooed us out of the changing room. While the boys went down to music room three, I stayed and got my own physical exam done, and met them some fifteen minutes later. Tamaki allowed everyone to go home, and so Mori and Honey dropped me off like they did the night of the ball.

Once I was at home, I greeted Miyogi-Sama and Natsuko-Sama, and went up to my room. It was simple, had the necessities. My club activities and school work had kept me from doing much with it decoratively speaking. I changed out of my uniform and lay on my bed for a while, listening to the pitter-patter of light rain drops on the roof.

I thought about the Host Club for a long time, and how they might have just changed my life, and how I was grateful to have such funny friends. Although Haruhi didn't enjoy their day-to-day schemes and jokes, it was always a good time with them. Tamaki made me feel a part of a real family. Kyoya always kept me on my toes. The twins were always up to something. Honey was adorable and always made me feel better. And, there was Mori. Simple, sweet Mori. I wanted to know so much more about him. His quietness was enjoyable, yes, but I still felt like there was another side to Mori. The side that tells people that they looked lovely after dancing with them. My face burned at the thought of it.

I sighed aloud just in time for Natsuko-Sama to hear it. She laughed, cracking my door open a bit more and peeking in. "Thinking about boys, are we?"

I bolted up. "Natsuko-Sama! Ah, no!" I shouted, trying to bring my heart rate down to a normal speed. The maid smiled knowingly.

"Whatever you say, Orie-Kun. Dinner is almost ready, if you'd like to come down. Your father won't be home in time, unfortunately."

"Oh, that's alright. I know he's busy." I waved it off, stretched, and followed her down to the dining room of the Hoshiyo mansion. While we walked, I could sense that she wanted to ask more about what I had been thinking about, but she waited until we were in the dining room.

"You should invite your friends over sometime, Orie-Kun. I think your father would like to see you with some friends."

I bowed my head, my face turning slightly pink. "Right, Natsuko-Sama."

She smiled knowingly at me, and left me in the dining room, pondering the notion.


	3. Mori 'n Orie, How Great Is That?

**WOW. Thanks for all the follows, favorites, and reviews! You guys are nothing but loving and dedicated. I'm sorry this has taken SO long- I was on vacation without internet or a laptop, for that matter. Rest assured, you'll be getting your updates rather regularly from now on. A shout out to Mishmodia, who just finished her own fic, Electricity in my Soul…she was really the person who made me decide to write this! I hope you all enjoy **** - McKenna**

* * *

After the scare with physical examinations, and the nightmare that would be if Haruhi was ever found out, the Ouran High School host club was returning to a normalcy…one suited for them, that is. My life was fashioned regularly now, with a simple routine that actually made me rather happy during the day.

Mornings were spent with Mori and Honey at Kendo, classes went rather well thanks to them, too. My afternoons went to the host club, and evenings to homework, calling my mom, and chatting with dad. I had grown much closer to the man I once only thought of as a business man. He was warm, light-hearted, and hilarious. He loved to spend time with me, and would always call in "sick" in order for us to do things together. Sometimes, we even practiced Kendo together. We watched movies, went out to eat, and watched sports. It was…fun.

Taking up Natsuko's advice, I invited Honey over to try some cake I baked after school on a Friday evening. I busied myself with setting out plates and silverware, along with the platters of a couple different cakes that Natsuko made along with my own cake. After I was satisfied, I changed into a dark blue dress, checked my appearance, and distracted myself with homework and loud music until he showed up.

_God, whoever invented calculus was a complete ass. Seriously, who needs to know this? _I shook my head and tapped my foot along to the beat of the music coming from my headphones, concentrating hard on the worksheet in front of me.

When a hand was laid on my shoulder, I jumped and screamed, quickly pulling the headphones out of my ears. Trying to catch my breath, I glared at Natsuko as she laughed hysterically. "I've been c-calling you f-for ages now, Orie!" She declared, laying a hand on her stomach and trying to quell her laughing. I rolled my eyes, but smiled as well. "You're friends are here."

_Friends. Friends? __**S**_. I darted down stairs to see Honey sitting at the table, kicking his legs absentmindedly, and Mori sitting next to him, looking down at the table. I sighed, placing a hand over my overactive heart. _I'm so glad it's only Mori…_

Taking in a deep breath, I tried to walk down the stairs as fluidly and gracefully as possible. _Gotta impress. _But who was I impressing?

My eyes glanced to Mori as both boys noticed my entrance, and I realized that I _did _want to impress Mori. I realized that I _like _him. I admired his patience with Honey, and his quietness that speaks so loudly. He was admirable. Not to mention cute. And handsome. _And Orie get a hold of yourself and go talk to them. _

"Hey Honey, Mori. I'm sorry, I wasn't prepared for you both, let me get another place setting." I greeted them, beginning to pass them to go to the kitchen. Mori grabbed my arm before I made it all the way, however, and pulled me back.

"There's no need, Takashi doesn't feel very well, so he isn't eating. He just wanted to come by and see you!" Honey voiced what Mori, I guess, must have been thinking. I looked at Mori steadily, but he refused to make eye contact with me. I could see the slight smile, though. It was there. _Try not to convince yourself too hard there, Orie. _

"Well, that's okay. Just tell me if you'd like anything, Mori. Honey, you go ahead and dig in. I baked the one in the center, and I need someone to try it out for me." I dropped him a wink and he smiled happily. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Tea, please! Takashi, will you have some tea?" Honey said, looking over at his companion. I shuffled my glance back to Mori, who was now standing up next to me, his chair pushed in. He nodded briefly, and returned my gaze. Stuttering, I blushed and began to walk away into the kitchen, Mori following behind me.

"I don't need any help, Takashi, it's okay." I tried to reason with him. I smiled nervously as he shook his head, reaching above me to grab the tea pot from the top shelf. "Hm. Maybe I did need you, after all." I joked with him, gaining me one more sort of Mori-special smile. I was starting to adore that look.

"You called me Takashi." He commented. My eyes widened as my blush became furiously red on my rather pale cheeks.

"I'm sorry…" I said stupidly, at a loss for words.

"Don't apologize." He came back, ducking his head.

Together, we started the tea, and stood across from each other as we waited for it to steep. I leaned on the counter and tried to focus my eyes everywhere but his as he stood before me, hands delved into his pants pockets. I began humming the tune of the song I was listening toearlier, trying to clear up some of the awkward and tense silence as we waited. _I forgot tea took this long._

I slowly brought my eyes to Mori, who had been staring at me for the past couple seconds. Clearing my throat, I attempted some sort of conversation. "So…u-uh…that K-kendo tournament coming up…" I stuttered out awkwardly, trying to smile to make up for it. I could feel my cheeks heating up as Mori looked at me with confusion etched across his distinct features.

"Yes?" He asked, tilting his head down to me more.

Swallowing my irrational behaviors, I tried to be more fluid. "Are you excited?"

"I suppose." He replied, seeming uninterested in the conversation. Turning away from him to hide my embarrassment, I began setting tea cups and the whole deal on a tray and steadied my frustrated breathing. "Orie," Came his deep voice, and I turned to literally smack right into him. Gasping, my hands flew to my nose, holding on to it as if it would help the throbbing pain. I smacked my palm on the counter top and hissed.

My hands were taken away from my face as Mori leaned down to examine it. His face was so _close _to mine, it was almost painful trying not to look at him as his eyes, filled with concern, searched my own. "I'm fine, Mori. It was an accident."

After a couple more seconds of awkward yet intimate closeness, he released my face and offered an apology, and taking the tea tray for me into the room where Honey was eating cake after cake. The rest of the night was filled of Honey and I making small talk, and me thinking over and over: _I'll never, ever have people over. Ever. Again._

The next week, Mori and I didn't speak to or look at each other for most of the day. Honey chatted with me about each cake, to which I tuned out effortlessly, twirling my pen between my fingers and biting my lip. At lunch, Honey looked at me sadly.

"Orie-Chan?" He asked, tugging on the sleeves of my hideous dress. I raised an eyebrow, glancing over to the blonde haired boy.

"Yes?"

"What's wrong? You haven't been acting like yourself, and you and Takashi haven't spoken to each other at all…" Honey went on, and I waited for him to stop his rambling and figure out for himself. When he did, he turned to me with a grin plastered upon his face. He whispered harshly to me, "You like Takashi, don't you? Don't you?!"

"Honey, calm down." I said as I rubbed my sleepy eyes. "Yes, maybe I have a slight…crush…on him, but it doesn't matter. He probably thinks I'm a klutzy, stammering, blushing idiot."

Honey kept smiling at me, but shook his head gracefully. "Takashi thinks you're wonderful." He declared.

I snorted at this, and turned my body to fully face him. "Oh? And who told you this? Certainly _not _Mori." Honey hesitated before crossing his arms and closing his eyes.

"I just know it, Orie-Chan."

When Host Club started, I put on the uniform Kyoya had supplied me with, and served the whole time, making sure each table had all the tea and cakes that they needed. It was another one of their themed days, and I had on a traditional kimono. As I noticed my feet were dragging, I quickly hurried into the kitchen area they had set up for food storage, and shook myself out of my funk.

_This isn't like you, Orie. So what if Mori doesn't like you, or you literally have zero chances with him…doesn't matter! You have a life. So what if…if…Mori and Orie rhyme and it'd be cute as hell. _

_ God dammit. _

Loading up the cart, I smiled at my insanity, and pushed the cart out into the main room, serving and offering smiles when needed. I rolled my eyes at the twins' stunts, as well as Honey's (not so planned out as the twins) missing sandal and Mori's retrieval of it for him. I could almost barf at the…grossness of it all. Yet, it was hilarious, and I loved these boys.

All the girls filed out, Tamaki was obliviously seducing Haruhi, and all was pretty normal in the world of the hosts, until…

"Looks like the Host Club has a brand new guest." The twins analyzed together as I left the cart where it was to stand near them, observing the events about to unfold.

"Holy sh-!" I shouted as the girl punched Tamaki away from her, making fall him back as she screamed at him. My eyes were wide and my mouth was dropped open in amazement and shock.

Incompetent…disgusting…commoner…narcissist…

_And…who is this girl?_

The girl ran up and threw her arms around Kyoya's waist, going on about how he was her "one and only prince." I couldn't help but snort; how could the Shadow King be a prince?

The story was that the girl, Renge, believed Kyoya to be her fiancée. After Kyoya explained that he had never met the girl before, it was deduced that she thought Kyoya was a video game character. I still was standing with my mouth agape, and eyes widened as all the others screamed and ran around like chickens with their heads cut off.

"According to my research, I understand you manage the club, is that true?" Renge asked Kyoya as we all sat down on the couches, watching intently.

"That's right! Kyo-Chan is our director!" Honey replied to her question, leaning over the couch back to gain her attention.

"You're the club's director? That's perfect! Oh, I've always wanted to wear a sandwich board to advertise a business!" She said, clasping her hands together and staring off into the distance space. I tilted my head and looked at Mori, who lightly shrugged. At least I wasn't the only horribly confused one.

"I've made up my mind! From now on I'm going to be the manager of this host club!"

I almost groaned.

The next day over tea, the Host Club discussed the pros and cons of a lady manager. Of course, Tamaki offered that it was good idea, so that Haruhi could have a girl friend. I rolled my eyes at this and hit the so called king on the back of the head.

"And what do you call me?" I asked, crossing my arms and glaring at him as the twins laughed loudly. Tamaki rubbed the back of his head and shrugged.

Renge came into the room suddenly, "Hey, guys. And Orie." She smiled brightly at me, but I just kept my glare at the back of Tamaki's head. "I've baked you all some cookies!" Tamaki sidled up to her, but Renge countered. "Not for you, you phony!"

Honey took one and began nibbling on it. "Ek, these cookies really are burned!"

Mori grabbed the cookie from him and I stood by them, amused. "Don't eat that, Mitsukuni, it's bad for you!" Renge must have overheard this, because she immediately began chasing us, me really only being including because I was holding Usa-Chan, Honey's stuffed rabbit, from falling.

"Renge! Stooooppp!" I shouted as Honey screamed out loud, too. Eventually she did, and she studied all of us as Tamaki, Haruhi, and the twins were arguing over something. Mori and I caught our breaths as she began shouting about their "characters."

"All of you except Kyoya! All of your characters are lukewarm! Each of you needs to have some sort of dark side, you understand? Girls are vulnerable to handsome young men who are troubled! If you keep carrying on like this, it's only a matter of time before the girls get tired of you and stop coming all together. Are you _trying _to ruin my precious Kyoya's business? As your manager, it's my duty to change your character backgrounds! Let's start with…you!" She shouted, pointing at a quivering Honey. "If you're so cute inside and out, than you're no different than a baby. Therefore…from now on you are the baby faced thug!"

"And Mori-Senpai, you're his childhood friend flunkie! The twins," She went on, "will be basketball players who slave in their own world! Haruhi, you're an honors student who's constantly being bullied." She paused, and turned to Tamaki. "And as for you, Tamaki, you're the school idol who's admired for your good looks but actually has an inferiority complex you're hiding from the world: the _lonely prince_."

_Oh Jesus, now she's done it. _

"Oh, yes, and for you, Orie-Senpai…" She began, but I quickly cut her off.

"Oh, I'm not actually a host or hostess. No need."

"Wrong! If you're going to be hanging around the boys you need to have a character as well! Hm…who would you go well with? I know! You'll be Mori-Senpai's love, but can't be with him because of his loyalty to Honey-Senpai!"

I gave her a dead-panned expression and a lazy thumb up. _Not too different from real life._

* * *

"So, remind me again why there's a whole Hollywood camera crew here?" I asked Mori as we waited for our cues. I bunched up the stupid script Renge wrote for this stupid movie she decided to make, and tossed it aside. Mori shrugged at my question, but his eyes danced with amusement at my frustration. "Oh, you think that's _so _funny." I grumbled, and he reached down to pat my head.

I smiled up to him, admiring how he looked with the fake Hollywood made rain dripped off his chin and hair. I looked like a drowned rat, no doubt, but he was…ugh.

Haruhi began running through the trees, leaning up against one to catch her breath as Honey swaggered up behind her. "You can't run away forever." He said, his voice surprisingly deep and posture incredibly…thug-like. Haruhi whirled around and fell to the ground, bunching herself up against the trunk of the tree. "I'm gonna show you what happens to anyone who crosses me." Honey said dangerously to Haruhi as Mori appeared right next to him.

"Don't do it, Mitsukuni. You should have realized by now that whenever you hurt others, you're really just hurting yourself." Mori told Honey as the rain still poured down, and I watched in amazement. That's the most I'd ever heard Mori speak to anyone, and god, his voice had me in a trance.

"I didn't ask you for any advice. You want me to put you over my knee again?"

My cue. I came running toward them, plopping myself down at Honey's feet in a begging stance. "Mitsukuni, please! Please, don't hurt anyone else!"

Honey didn't even turn to look at me; his bangs hid his face well. "Hey, Takashi, clean up the trash, will you?"

Mori glanced at me before his eyes flickered back to Honey. "Mitsukuni, don't make me do this. You know how I feel about her." He warned.

"Takashi."

Mori sighed, and stood over me, hauling me to my feet by one slender wrist. He put his arm around my neck, as if to choke me, and muttered a sorry as he let my "unconscious" body fall to the ground in a tumbling heap. _Oh, I'll feel that tomorrow. _

"You know, just like Hoshiyo, it really pisses me off when people don't know their place." Honey said, lifting his head up as Mori shut his eyes with guilt. I hadn't the slightest idea that any of the boys were this good at acting.

I waited a few moments, but only heard a whimper as Honey flung himself to Haruhi, apologizing tremendously as he hugged her. I groaned and stretched my limbs as I was lifted off the ground by Mori. He offered me his jacket, as I was shivering from lying on the cold ground, and I took it thankfully. He ruffled my hair before apologizing.

"Don't apologize." I said simply, shrugging. "Had to, technically, almost kill me."

He looked at me strangely. "Please don't say that." He muttered, and then proceeded to get Honey off of Haruhi. I went with Haruhi to dry off my hair, when Renge called her and me over to meet someone. She explained that the two guys were to be from the mafia, and the whole club would come together to fight them. Haruhi and I looked at her, horrified, as did the two poor guys.

I waved my hands in front of Renge's face. "Whoa, whoa, wait. You can't just go around judging people like this, Renge."

"Wait, Renge!" Haruhi said as Renge pulled the two guys over to the set without even listening to us. The guy retaliated, pushing Renge off of him.

"Renge, watch out!" Haruhi and I shouted as we sprinted forward; things were falling all over the place and she and I pushed Renge out of the way. In the mess, Haruhi was pushed up against the wall, and she held a hand over her eyes, as I had the guy's uniform bunched up in my hand so I could pull him away from the scene, effectively getting myself hit in the head by a light or something.

Groaning, I sank to the ground, too, clutching my head in my hands. Tamaki came around the corner and began going at the two guys, which was stopped by Haruhi, who had actually just lost a contact. As the other club members came around, Renge was charmed by Tamaki's protectiveness over Haruhi. However…Kyoya smashed the lens of the camera with a rock, claiming he couldn't let the footage be released with that kind of violence.

As Renge yelled at Kyoya, Mori and Honey helped me off the ground, Mori supporting my weight as I fought to gain my sense of balance back. When I lifted my hand from my head, Honey gasped. "Orie-Chan has a cut!"

A few days later, with a Band-Aid on my forehead and many questions circulating about it, we found out that Kyoya had edited the film and sold it to costumers. We all turned to Kyoya, who stood behind us, as the girls in front of us fangirled.

"I may have broken the lens, but the actual footage wasn't damaged. Naturally, I did cut out that one violent scene. Sales have been pretty good so far; that Hollywood film crew did a pretty good job. Then again, I guess that's to be expected." He explained as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and smirked deviously. "And, besides, many of the male students of Ouran have been commenting on Orie-Senpai. We may have to invite her in as an elite Hostess. For business gain, of course." He added, smiling at me.

"You sure it isn't to make things 'more interesting'?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows.

Kyoya only shrugged, and that's how I took my first steps to becoming a Hostess.


	4. Of Boredom and Funk

In the next couple of days, I was announced as a new Ouran Hostess, taking on a few male clients in the afternoon and chatting with them, while also serving the Host's woman clients and making "friends" with them. To be honest, it wasn't nearly as much fun (if that's a good word to use at all, that is) as just being a waitress of sorts. I didn't feel like having to entertain boys. I didn't like them. They were rich, stuffy, boring, and _not Mori_.

Honey was being rather insufferable every morning, afternoon, and evening as he begged me to try and admit my "feelings" to Mori, as if _that _was ever going to happen. Honey truly felt that Takashi- I mean Mori- felt the same way. But, I narrated to him, it's just some frivolous crush. Not "feelings." However, I could start to sense that everyone was get clued in on the whole thing, and that they were all trying to gently push me towards what Honey was saying. Ordinarily, I ignored them.

The twins approached me one day and asked me to type in a bio for myself on our new website, which featured topless photos of all the guys. They evilly looked me up and down, suggesting they do the same of me for a "business venture." I slapped one of them, and took the laptop from the other, turning on my heel to add useless information about myself.

"Name. Okay, easy. Orie Hoshiyo." I said aloud as I typed along. "Age, seventeen. Class? 3A. Blood type. What is it with these guys and blood types, anyway? AB. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Uh. I am from Florence, Italy, where I lived with my mom above our dojo where she taught and I learned Kendo. Here at Ouran I'm obviously a part of the Host Club, as well as the Kendo club." Smiling as I finished typing, I read over my work to make sure nothing was grammatically incorrect, and dropped the laptop off with the twins.

I turned back to see Tamaki yelling at the twins for the topless and photo shopped pictures of Haruhi, and laughed. Taking a step forward with my eyes still glued to the comedic acts that were the twins, I felt my body brush against someone rather clumsily.

"Oops, sorry." I said politely, fearing it was a costumer. I looked up to see the towering Mori smiling slightly down at me. "Oh. Hello Mori. How are you today?"

"Mm." He replied, nodding his head slowly as his eyes snapped from mine to the scene unfolding before us. Was that…the twins fighting? Hikaru and Kaoru yelled at each other forcefully, shouting about how the other was selfish, or something along those lines.

"We're finished!" They shouted, each storming off into a different direction. I sighed, rolling my eyes and leaning up against a table.

"This should be…interesting."

"You sound like Kyoya." Mori said, his deep, monotonous voice sounding rather…sad to me, maybe. My face softened as I tugged on Mori's sleeve. He turned down to me, almost lowering to my height habitually. I giggled, but went back to being serious rather quickly.

"Are you okay, Mori?"

He nodded, but of course, I wasn't satisfied.

"Mori, if something's bothering you, you know you can always tell me or Honey, too. I know he wouldn't like to see you upset about anything." I urged, but all to no avail. Mori simply patted my head and went to pick up Honey, the two walking out of the club after the twins stormed out.

Haruhi was suddenly next to me, her eyes going back and forth from the door and back to me. "Orie-Senpai, how do you know if Mori-Senpai's feeling sad?"

I shrugged and chuckled. "I dunno. I can just sense it, I guess. Perks of being around him all day, I suppose." I turned to her, seeing that she had a hand raised to her chin in her normal "I'm thinking about something very hard" stance. Raising an eyebrow, I waited for her to voice what was on her mind.

"I think it might help that you _like _him, ya know?"

"Wh-what?!" I practically screeched, but she was already gone, getting her bag and getting ready to leave the club. I stood with my mouth agape, and although I already knew that the rest of them had figured out why it was I in such a funk, I was still surprised at Haruhi's boldness with the touchy subject. Shaking my head, I followed suit in grabbing my bag and readying myself for departure of Ouran Academy.

On the way home, this time walking through the large city to my house, I let my thoughts wander aimlessly. Stepping around puddles and piles of dog feces left around on the sidewalks, I thought about what Haruhi said. Yes, I did like Takashi.

_God, you're such a school girl, Hoshiyo. You blush at the thought of his actual first name._

But, I couldn't help myself. When he was at my house, aiding me in making tea, I had accidentally used his first name. He hadn't so much minded, but it was a sort of big deal for me. The only other person who ever used that name was Honey, and there was no way I had a relationship like _that _with Takashi Morinozuka. I wanted it to be like that, though. I wanted to be close to him. To know the ins and outs of Mori, just know everything about him. It was this odd sense of wanting to be around him at all times, just being able to breathe him in and out.

_Okay, Orie, this is getting really obsessive. _

I had to laugh in spite of myself. I mean, I was talking to myself! I really had no idea what was going to happen within this rest of this year. Who knows? Maybe I would never tell Mori about my careless and outrageously hormonal feelings about him, and then again, maybe I would. That sort of frightened me, however, not being able to predict what could be the outcome of this year. Usually my life was so cookie-cutter, so, so…_predictable_, but now my life was sporadic and hard to decipher. Thanks to those crazy, kooky boys with the Host Club, my life was so random. It actually made me happy, not having to feel so stressed out because I had a lot of lively people around me. And yet…here I feared the unknown.

_God, I sound way too deep. _

When I finally got home, I greeted Natsuko and company, made my way upstairs, and guiltily dreamt about Takashi. I imagined what it might be like to hold his incredibly large hand in my rather small, impish hands. What it might be like to kiss him, smile into it. Or maybe to be the reason he smiles to himself. Jeez, it sounded terribly girly, but it made me smile at the mere thought of it. I bet he would be so protective and sweet and caring. I wondered what his hair felt like when running a hand through it. I couldn't help but clasp my hands over my chest before letting out a low squeal and small giggle. That was it, I guess. _I'm heels over head for him. _

The next day at lunch, the Host Club stood by and watched as a pink haired Hikaru and a blue haired Kaoru threw food and other random items at each other across a lunch table; Haruhi sat in the center, her head lying on her folded hands, looking positively defeated. I sighed as Mori suddenly rushed forward, trying to grab Honey as he was being thrown around in the mix. Tamaki watched in horror, while Kyoya only sighed as he worked in his dumb little black book of impending doom.

As the bickering died down, or at least the throwing of objects, Honey offered the two a small cake to split, but began rambling on about how he'd like some, as well as the strawberry on top. I chuckled nervously and slowly walked over to Honey and tugged him away, muttering that he wasn't helping all that much. "I'll split the cake with you, but just leave those two alone for a while, okay?"

He looked upset for a couple moments, but once Mori sat down with us, we all enjoyed a third of the cake, Honey taking the strawberry for himself. After lunch, the club separated once more for classes, which were, as usual, boring and uninteresting in every way possible. I hadn't been focusing at all lately, instead taking my time to develop new, sweet fantasies about a certain tall, dark, and overly handsome host. My head resting on my hand, I wasn't paying attention when the instructor called my name out in annoyance.

"Hoshiyo, please enlighten us with whatever it is that's so interesting about the windowsill." He said loudly, gaining everyone's attention, to my embarrassment. Honey and Mori looked at me questioningly. I suppose it wasn't like me to get in trouble.

"Erm, sorry, sir. Zoned out for a moment." I replied, sitting up nice and straight and making a big deal about getting my head back into class. I rolled my eyes, accidentally, but not unwelcomingly, meeting Mori's gaze for a brief moment. My eyes dropped back down to my paper, and my blush had to be so vivid and clear that, of course, the instructor paused once more.

"Hoshiyo, boyfriends are for after class. Please pay attention; I'm not doing this for my health." He snapped, unceremoniously turning back to the blackboard to write out lecture notes. A small giggle passed through the room at my expense, and I buried my head into my arms, wishing there was a rock I could climb under available at the moment.

Later, the club members all sat around the grand mahogany table, lounging lazily (besides Honey, who, of course, was eating another cake). Tamaki seemed exhausted from the twin's constant arguing back and forth.

"If the twin's keep this up, we'll have to cut the Brotherly Love package out." Kyoya murmured as he wrote feverously in his book. "Our funds will drop significantly." He muttered as he glanced up at Haruhi. "But, don't worry, Haruhi, I don't blame you, although this is your entire fault. You provoked this from the twins." He said nonchalantly, as if it was the kindest thing he could do for her. Thinking on it now, it probably was.

"The twins have never fought, ya know." Said Honey as he munched on a piece of cake. "I've known them since kindergarten, although we didn't talk much, they never seemed to need anyone else's company."

"Really?" Haruhi asked, frowning slightly. It didn't surprise me that the twin's had their own little world they were shut up in. Who else would understand them? Identical twins are a nightmare.

"Yeah," Chimed Tamaki, who smiled fondly at a memory, perhaps. "I've only known them since middle school, but they were always alone. Since then, they've opened up."

"Hm." I offered, not genuinely interested in why the hell the twins were fighting. In all honesty, I might have thought it was a rouse. If there was one thing I noticed about each host boy, it was that each of them had a "thing", if you will.

For instance, Kyoya liked to make the outcome of events more interesting for himself, and likewise, the twin's enjoyed purposely twisting things around so they weren't perpetually _bored_. If my whole theory on them was correct, then they were probably just doing this because they wanted some attention, and I could probably pinpoint who it was they wanted it from. But, of course, anyone could. It was no secret that every host boy was somewhat fond of Haruhi. Maybe it was because she was a…hidden treasure. To be honest, it drove me to jealousy a bit. All the boys seemed to be so focused on her…they sometimes forgot that I was a girl, too.

But, that wasn't important, I guess. The twins were. Twin. Right. They were fighting. The two stormed into the room, their voices raised and droning on and on. I rolled my eyes and sighed, gaining wary glances from Mori as I hummed and hawed over the twin's staged fight. Kaoru laughed darkly as he pulled something from behind his back. It was a wooden cat voodoo doll, one, I recognized, of Nekozawa's. He was the president of the Black Magic club here at Ouran, and Tamaki was deathly afraid of his "powers." I sorely wondered how such a club even came into existence at such an institute. Kaoru began scribbling something on the back of the doll, laughing evilly as Hikaru scowled at him. Haruhi, however, marched over to them and began yelling at them mercilessly.

"This is a sibling squabble, not a fight to the death! You're both wrong, and acting like idiots proves it! Now stop this and make up, or I'm never inviting you to my house, ever!" She shouted and clenched her fists together, her face heating up to a nice red.

_Tough luck. _"So…you will invite us over if we make up?" The twins asked together, suddenly holding out a script to Haruhi. She sank to the floor, burning up in a humiliated fashion. The twins congratulated each other on their blinding success, and I groaned at their antics.

I felt as though normally, I would have been laughing right along with them, greatly amused that Haruhi fell for their tricks once more. Yet, as it were, I wasn't feeling up for much these past couple days. Sighing, I gathered my bag up and tiptoed slowly away from the commotion the twins had caused, just barely reaching the door.

"Orie." His deep voice rumbled, pulling me away from door and reeling back. He looked at me curiously, tilting his head adorably to the side.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you going?" He asked suddenly, pushing his hands into his pockets and only focusing his eyes on me. Not Honey, not the twins, but just _me_.

"I, uh, wanted to go home early. Yeah. I'm not feeling well." I lied, quickly brushing my fingers against my temple as if to gesture that I had a migraine. "I just want to go home."

He pursed his lips. "Let me walk you home." I simply nodded, and turned back to open the door. We just about reached the main entrance and exit to the school when I stopped suddenly, whirling around to face Mori. He wasn't looking at me; his eyes were searching the sunny environment outside.

"Mori, what about Honey?" His eyes came back down to meet mine, and he offered a small smile.

"Mitsukuni decided he would like to go home by himself today." Mori answered, sounding a bit…hurt, was it? _Dammit, Honey, if this was your doing…_

"Oh. Well, don't worry, Takashi, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." I consoled him, patting his arm gently as I squeaked in realization that I had used Mori's first name again. I tried to hide my blush, turning away from him, and unfortunately, missing his rather wide smile. "Anyway, you don't have to walk me home, if you don't want to, I'm sure you'd like to get back home soon, too," I began to ramble on, listing off reasons why he could ditch me.

_Why are you encouraging him, Orie?!_

Instead of laughing, or taking my advice and leaving, he plucked my messenger bag off my shoulder, putting it over his, instead. I stomped my foot rather childishly and yelled out at him for taking my things. He rolled his gorgeous onyx eyes and ruffled my hair a bit before beginning to walk. I tried to match his pace, but his incredibly long legs always kept him a few inches ahead of me. Without my bag to tug at nervously, I had no idea what do with my hands, and so I wrung my hands together anxiously.

Mori glanced down at them, and stopped walking suddenly. I stopped with him, my hands still moving together, until I giggled nervously and dropped them to my sides, understanding that it was probably annoying him. I sighed and looked down, ashamed. "I'm sorry, Mori, you probably think I'm some basket case." I said, shaking my head and laughing.

He peered at me strangely before engulfing one of my hands in his, holding it fragilely and sacredly, almost. My hand loosely and lightly sat in his, giving it something to do. With my other, I fingered the material of my dress and smiled up at Mori, who looked straight ahead, a faint blush creeping across his distinctive facial features.

Once we reached my house, he dropped my hand slowly to my side, and handed me my bag. I took it back, trying to be graceful about it, because that's how he made me feel. Light and graceful. It was amazing.

"Thanks, Mori."

But he just shook his head. "You can call me Takashi, you know." He replied lowly, craning down to look at me. I blushed and nodded my head, becoming very interested in the hideous brown loafers that were required at school suddenly.

"Right, Mo-Takashi. Thank you. For everything." I corrected myself, smiling down at the ground. When I glanced back up, he was walking away, going to his own home. I didn't know how to contain myself as I waltzed up the stairs to my room and grinned from ear to ear. I didn't do any homework; I just lay on my bed and focused on how hard my heart was still pounding.


	5. About the Last Time I'll Ever Swim!

"Orie-Chan, do you have a bathing suit?" Honey asked as we walked lethargically to lunch. I raised an eyebrow at his seemingly innocent question, and crossed my fingers that the Host Club wasn't planning on something like _that_. Not with what had been going on in the past couple of days.

A young boy from the elementary school had come into the club, requesting that Tamaki train him in how to make girls happy. After about an hour of him watching, Haruhi connected that he may want to only make one particular girl happy. After a vicious stake-out involving the still horrid, yet five million times better, middle and elementary school uniforms, we found out that the girl was due to be moving away soon. Tamaki quickly taught the young boy how to play a piece on the piano so that the two could play it together one last time. Apparently things had been going well after the girl moved a couple of days ago, too, because the young boy hung around the club, often smearing it in Tamaki's face. Yesterday, Kyoya made it clear that he wasn't to come _back _to the club until he was in high school himself.

On top of that, I had risen over my "Mori Funk", as I began to so affectionately call it. I realized that I'd never get anywhere just being another one of those Mori fangirls, and also came to realize that I was being disturbingly obnoxious to the club members. I had been so wrapped up in my fantasy land where I could be with Mori all the time, that I had been ignoring the club for about a week now. I felt horrible, and immediately apologized the next chance I got, not bothering to tell them why it was I had been ignoring them in the first place.

Anyway, as I glanced down to Honey, I became nervous. "No, I don't think so." Okay, so it was a lie.

Honey just smiled warmly, closing his eyes and shrugging. "Well, that's okay! I know the twin's got Haruhi a swimsuit, so maybe they can get you one, too!"

"What are you-?"

I was cut off by an unseen force, but I could still make out Honey's incessant giggling as I was whisked away from the front of the south building on campus and shuffled into a limousine. Gasping finally in a delayed reaction, Honey slid in next to me, Mori following him quietly. I glared daggers at the two, hardly amused.

"And just what was that?!" I shouted as Mori shut the door behind him, signaling for the driver to pull away from Ouran.

Honey squeezed my hand with his. "We're gonna go have some fun, right, Takashi?" Honey replied, glancing up at his silent companion. My eyes trailed over to Mori's, who was absently staring out the window, watching the scenery roll by at twenty-five miles an hour pace. In only about ten minutes of a silent car ride, we were apparently where we needed to be, and I was captured once again by the two martial artists, and being forcefully dragged into whatever facility it was.

Once inside, the air felt thicker and smelled like the ocean. It was much warmer than outside, and the sunlight was warm and plentiful. The boys let go of my arms, hurrying to greet the rest of the host club that were already in their bathing suits, Haruhi not included, for she wore ugly plaid shorts and a yellow pull over. I wrinkled my nose at her attire, and she seemed to have noticed.

"Problem, Senpai?"

"What is that ghastly thing?" I asked as I stalked near her, lying low from the twins for as long as possible.

"Oh, don't worry; you got it coming to you." She muttered, walking away and leaving me in plain sight for the boys to come and harass me. Sure enough, they did, with a bag in their hands. They pushed me off to the bathroom and handed me the bag, instructing me to change quickly.

It was a simple two piece bikini, dark green in color and plain. I was rather surprised as I threw my other clothes into the bag and brought them out with me to place on a chair. I thanked the twin's for their simple choice, and laughed as Haruhi complained that I got a "normal looking suit."

If I was being honest, I was rather self-conscious showing so much skin around the boys, especially Mori. I blinked, trying not to make eye contact with anyone as Honey rushed up to me, tugging on my hand and trying to pull me to the pool. Tamaki and the twins caught my eye as Tamaki went on about how it was "Indecent of young girls to walk around half naked in the presence of boys", which made me blush harder than anything ever.

Honey jumped into the wave pool suddenly, floating along the current and giggling madly. Mori stood near me as the pools edge, both of us smiling fondly at Honey's antics. As we laughed together, I allowed myself to sneak a quick glance at his body, eventually trailing up to his eyes, where his gaze met mine. My cheeks flamed up; _I was caught checking him out of all things. Oh my god. _

His smile still held true though, and suddenly his hand was on my arm; my skin prickled at the touch. With one gentle, forceful movement, however, Mori pushed me into the pool. I quickly swam up, breaking the surface and gasping for air.

"Takashi Morinozuka!" I yelled furiously, "I am going to kick your ass at Kendo tomorrow so bad; you'll wish you never pushed me into this dumb pool!" I swore to him, watching as he dunked himself into the pool as well, chuckling slightly at my anger. "It's not funny!" I shouted as he swam closer to me. He patted my head and I crossed my arms, staring blankly at him. He splashed me ever so slightly before moving on to Honey, just barely brushing against me.

I clicked my tongue, shaking my head. _Will be the death of me, I swear it._

Honey grabbed everyone's attention as him and Mori swan against the current, not moving anywhere. I laughed loudly, clutching my stomach at the sight of the two together. Eventually, Mori got out of the pool to get something to drink, leaving Honey and I to swim against the current by ourselves. I put Honey on my back and we laughed and chatted aimlessly as we battled the water together.

Honey decided he wanted to try it by himself, so I stood back and let him, allowing the current to swallow me and gently tug me around. My eyes drifted to where Mori stood, emptying his ears of water, next to Haruhi. I watched as Haruhi offered him a sip of her drink, and when he accepted, I scowled harshly. Crossing my arms and huffing, I tried to keep my thoughts away from the J-word.

So what, so what, so _what_? _Don't be jealous of Haruhi, Orie. Don't you dare. Don't you-ugh. You idiot. _

Honey swam up next to me, and noticed my sour expression. "Orie-Chan, what's wrong?"

I didn't have time to answer, because suddenly a huge wave was about to collapse over both of us. In a matter of teeny, tiny, split seconds, I grabbed Honey, mashing him to my chest and clasping my arms around him tightly, and made eye contact with Mori as the wave crashed over us.

I shut my eyes tightly and held my breath for as long as I could, all the while making sure I still had my grip on Honey. I let out a scream under the water as Honey and I were sucked down in a whirlpool, and spat out at the mouth of a river. The whole process only took about two minutes, but I was gasping for breath and hanging on to the river bank for dear life along with Honey, who was coughing violently next to me. I hoisted myself out of the water and helped Honey out, then proceeded to hug him closely to me.

"Are you okay?" I asked urgently, checking his small body for any injuries. He nodded tiredly, curling up into my side. "Well, come on, we're at the end of the current pool, so if we just follow this back, we should find them eventually.

We walked for about a half an hour when it began pouring. Just absolutely _pouring. What the actual hell, Kyoya_, I thought as Honey and I took refuge under a large palm tree. I sighed, leaning up against the trunk and yawned.

"Hey, Orie-Chan, you never told me what was wrong." Honey whispered to me suddenly, looking up at me with his big, brown eyes.

"Oh." I shifted uncomfortably. "Well, it's just…that…I…uh…"

Honey smiled kindly. "It's okay, Orie-Chan, I know. You really like Takashi. But, didn't you see it today? I think Takashi made more of an effort to show you that he likes you _back_. Did you notice it?"

I thought about it for a moment. He pushed me into the pool, he ruffled my hair, and casually brushed against me, splashed me with water…_well, I suppose those would count as tell-tale signs of flirting. Not to mention the way he grabbed my hand while walking me home the other day during the "Mori Funk."_

"Yes, I guess I did notice it." I replied almost reluctantly. Honey patted my arm.

"You're both just big scaredy cats, that's all." He said, as if it was the most consoling thing ever. After about another hour of the rain, it finally let up, and Honey and I began moving along to find our friends so this day could just be over with already. As we marched along, I stopped Honey for a moment by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Honey, do you hear that?"

He nodded, his overall mood becoming serious in a matter of seconds. "Sounds like people talking."

I shook my head. "Sounds like people yelling…" I murmured. "C'mon, let's get higher up; we'll be able to see from up there." I said, pointing at a sturdy looking vine we could climb up to see from. Once we did, it was quite easy to see the mass of black uniforms and guns pointed at…Mori and Haruhi?!

_More like Mori carrying Haruhi…_

_ Now's not the time, Orie._

"Orie-Chan, c'mon!" Honey yelled hurriedly as he swung out from the vine, effectively hitting one of the officers in the face with his feet and landing perfectly. I followed suit, taking out another guard and stumbling a bit on my landing. I smiled proudly at myself as I aided Honey in his short battle with the uniformed men, though. It felt exhilarating to be fighting alongside a Haninozuka. Once we finished the job, I glanced back at Haruhi, my heart dropping into my stomach to see her curled into Mori's chest.

Biting back a fierce growl, I turned back to see all the guards bowing at Honey's and my feet, going on about how it was an honor to meet him and all that. Honey shrugged and skipped over to Takashi, pulling him down to pat him on the head.

"Takashi, you did an amazing job of protecting Haru-Chan! I bet you were pretty lonely without me around, huh? Don't worry! Orie-Chan kept me great company!"

Mori glanced at me before answering Honey, "I don't know if I'd say that."

Anger, frustration, confusion, and humiliation boiled within me as we walked back to the center of the park. The sun was setting, casting a gorgeous orange hue over the water, setting it off like diamonds. I sighed as I looked into the pool. It'd be a while before I went into water again.

"Ya know, we should go to the beach." The twins commented as we headed out, but Tamaki stopped them.

"You fools; Haruhi doesn't like things like that." He reasoned with them. _Oh, cause it's _all _about Haruhi! _I mentally slapped myself. _You're acting like a child. _

"Actually, I think it'd be nice to go to the beach." Haruhi replied to them, her eyes dancing across the water.

"So we're all gonna go to the beach, Tama-Chan? That'll be fun, don't you think?" Honey asked from atop of Mori's broad shoulders. He smiled happily and folded his hands over Mori's black, wiry hair, and leaned down, resting his chin on them.

I figured Mori would be ogling Haruhi at this point, so I turned away from him, facing the water with my arms crossed over my stomach. But, as Honey clued me in much later in life, Mori's eyes travelled to _me_. "Yeah," He replied.

* * *

Upholding his promise, the Host Club was whisked away to the beach within the next week. Of course, we weren't allowed to go without our loyal customers, but thankfully, I had none this week. In fact, I hadn't been having very many lately. But, I wasn't asking about to meddle with things and get myself any followers for this trip.

I packed away the green bathing suit the twins gave me along with some other clothes and necessities, and waited for Mori and Honey to pick me up, per Honey's suggestion. I had practically glared daggers at him when he spat the idea out over cake last week, but simply smiled sweetly and agreed to it. It was becoming a well-known thing that Honey was more than what met the eye. A lot more. Like…borderline evil twins and Kyoya more.

The boys eventually rolled up, and I said goodbye to my father as I headed out the door and to the car. This time, I was given the window seat, and I took it to my advantage, blocking out Honey's ridiculous chatter with soft music and daydreams. I leaned my head against the window and paused my music, so sure that Honey had just been talking not even one minute ago.

I sat up and turned to them, seeing Honey bunched up and sleeping soundly against the other window. I giggled at his cuteness, and pulled the headphones away from my ears, bracing myself for an awkward conversation with Mori.

"Hi." I whispered, offering a small smile as I focused on wrapping my headphone cord around my finger.

"Hi." He replied coolly, staring at the white wire that was now twisted tightly around my pointer finger. He cleared his throat, "I never got to…thank you…for protecting Mitsukuni when I…couldn't." He stammered out, his black eyes hollow. I immediately felt bad for him, knowing that he thought everything was his entire fault. I shook my head viciously fast and grasped his rather muscular bicep tightly.

"It wasn't your fault, Takashi."

He smiled. Like, an actual smile. And then he nodded.

We didn't talk the rest of the way to the beach, but when we got there, the twins were quick to start complaining. "But why couldn't we have gone," They started together, only for Kaoru to finish, "To the Caribbean?"

"Or even Fiji?" Hikaru offered.

Kyoya lifted his eyebrow in exasperation. "Do you think a commoner like Haruhi has a passport? Or Orie-Senpai?"

"Excuse me, but how the hell would I have gotten to Japan, you rich idiots." I grumbled, as Haruhi mumbled under me, "You do realize we can hear you, right?"

Anyway, the guests came out soon enough, and girls were soaking up Tamaki's attention as much as they could while looking out into the sea. Haruhi and I sat under an umbrella, passing comments back and forth, but I still had no idea how to talk to her. Especially with what happened between her and Mori at the pool just a week ago.

I rolled my eyes at Hikaru and Kaoru's act. _Host working on location…this is really weird. _Beside me, Haruhi groaned and wiggled the sand out from between her toes. "This sucks; I thought a day at the beach meant a day off."

I shrugged limply, watching Mori and Honey doing yoga with some of the guests. I suppressed a laugh as some girls came up behind us. "Um, Haruhi? Aren't you going to go swimming with us?"

"No, I like looking at the sea from a safe distance." Haruhi replied as I decided to get up and join Honey and Mori as they began walking down the beach. Mori smiled at me in recognition as Honey called out for Haruhi to come over with us. _Great, _I thought, _now she has another chance to see Mori._

"Wanna go hellfish shunting?" Honey called out to Haruhi as he began sifting through the sand. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I think you meant shellfish hunting, Honey." I corrected him, patting his blonde hair down lovingly.

"I don't think you're gonna find that many shellfish," Haruhi started to say as she glanced down, seeing that she was standing right in what seemed like a field of…well, shellfish. "What the hell!" She shouted.

Mori and I glanced at each other, and peered over a rock that was behind us. There, Kyoya was with his private police force, who was productively shuffling buckets of shellfish out of a truck. "They felt bad about attacking Honey-Senpai, and wanted to repay him. Hence the shellfish." Kyoya explained briefly before turning back to one of the officers he was talking to. I shrugged and slid off the rock, watching Haruhi and Honey as they collected their shellfish.

Somehow (I was too busy staring at Mori, creepily enough, for me to even comprehend how this had gotten started), the topic of fears spread around the Hosts like wildfire, and they were suddenly very interested to know what Haruhi and I feared the most. Of course, I couldn't think of anything I feared very much, and I could already smell a competition coming on. So, I decided to play along, see how far they could go.

The twins started by getting a couple guests, Haruhi, and me to go with them to a cavern they had found. Insisting that it was haunted, I readily went with them, interested in how this was going to be executed. "This is the place, the most haunted spot in all of Okinawa."

"Yeah, the locals don't even come out here."

"They say that the only time you can even find this cave is at low tide. Evidently," Hikaru narrated, his pointer finger and thumb pinching his chin thoughtfully, "many people have died down here, and their souls still linger." He told us. The girls clung together, and I smirked at Haruhi, who looked bored as hell. "They take revenge on anyone who dares come inside!"

"Look!" Kaoru shouted, pointing to a black figure with shining purple eyes. A large reached out and grasped Haruhi's shoulder, and I peeled it off for her, laughing rather hard.

"What's going on?" Haruhi asked, looking bored with the whole ordeal. "Are you trying to freak me out?" She directed at Tamaki, who held the hand on a stick contraption over her. _This is priceless_.

Next, Honey beckoned Haruhi and I over to him, forcing us to get into the back of the truck from the police force with him. He had them close the back of it up, leaving us in the dark space. Honey almost immediately began to freak out.

"It's too dark, too small! Get me out, get me out!" He wailed, pounding on the door, which was opened right away. I sighed, hoping that the next few attempts weren't as bad as the first two.

Unfortunately, I was proven wrong. Next came Mori's poor attempt, in which he faced us with a sharp harpoon. Haruhi made some terrible pun, and I just lightly pushed it out of my face and shook my head at him.

The sun was beginning to set and the hosts were slowly giving up on trying to figure out what scared Haruhi and I. As she began collecting even more shellfish, I was invited by some of the other girls to look out at the sea from the high cliff. I cleared my throat nervously, but didn't want to have to face losing to a game I wasn't supposed to know about. I pushed the anxiety down and nodded, smiling at the girls as we trekked up the cliff together.

"Oh, it's so lovely!" One of them said, and although I was getting more nervous by the second, I couldn't help but agree.

"Hey! There's chicks up here!" A crude voice shouted. I whipped around to see two drunk guys stumbling up the cliff, throwing their beer cans to the side. "You ladies wanna hang with some of the locals?" One asked suggestively. Feeling as though it was my duty as a Hostess to protect our guests, I pushed them behind me and scowled.

"This is a _private _beach. Get out of here, scumbag." I growled, royally pissing them off. Pushing the other girls to the side, both men caught one of my arms and began pushing me towards the edge of the cliff. Tears sprung to my eyes as I began thrashing around, panicking. "No, no, no!" I shouted, desperate for help. "Please, let me go!"

"Oh, afraid of heights?" Cooed one of them and they both laughed at me, mocking me.

"Get away from her!" Haruhi shouted as she ran up, trying to unlatch the guys from my arms. They threw her off rather easily, and began pushing me over the cliff. They let go as soon as some shouted my name.

I let out a piercing scream as I began to fall, and I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to see the water below me. I braced myself for impact, and when it came, if knocked the wind out of me. My irrational, or so it seemed, fear of heights had finally become not so irrational as I felt myself sinking below the surface of the water more and more.

I was being pulled up not even a minute later; someone had picked me up and cradled me to their chest protectively. I coughed, desperate to get all salty water out of my lungs as I was set down, my feet touching the sand.

A million things swarmed my head, but exhaustion clouded me as everyone jumped up to hug me and ask if I was alright. "Leave her alone." A deep voice mumbled as I felt around for something- or someone- to clutch on to in case I were to, I dunno, pass out. I felt someone close in my proximity, invading my personal space, but I couldn't register who it was until the deep voice rumbled in my ear, "I'm going to pick you up and carry you back to the house, okay?" I nodded, and once I was safe and warm in someone's arms, I fell asleep quickly and soundly.


End file.
